Weddings and Funerals
by SuperGirl1995
Summary: The last few years have been rough on Katniss. But a will, a new school, and a handsomely mysterious stranger are about to change that. Modern AU/OOC. Mostly Everlark, some Odesta.
1. Chapter 1

Mags O'dair had lived what many would call a completely unextraordinary life. The daughter of two blue-collar factory workers, Mags had spent the last 67 years of her life working as a secretary for President Snow of Panem Co. She had never flown in an airplane, never bought her own house, never done anything that most people would consider to be of consequence.

At the age of 19, Mags met Eric O'dair, a data processor at Panem Co. The two fell madly in love and were married a year later. On the night of their wedding, Mags moved from her parent's home into Eric's 2-bedroom apartment. Together they raised two children, April and Sebastian, and between the two of them, they provided her with three grandchildren.

April married John Everdeen, a coal miner from the adjacent town, and gave birth to two daughters: Katniss and Prim. Sebastian married Celine Trita, his high school sweetheart and later the swim coach at the local high school, who gave birth to a son: Finnick.

Mags loved her children, and her grandchildren even more. And when her precious children died in a car crash three years ago, she and Eric had taken on the role of parenting their three grandchildren. Two years later, Eric experienced a fatal heart attack. Mags's heart broke that day.

Mags died a year later, and was buried in a grave next to her love. Her funeral is where our story begins.

* * *

"Katniss?" Prim asked, looking up at her big sister with wide, tearful eyes. "Why did grandma die?"

Katniss pulled the little girl into her arms and kissed her hair. "Because she loved grandpa _so much_ that she couldn't bear to be without him. And now they're together again." Katniss pointed to the coffin lowering into the grave next to her grandfather's tombstone.

Prim sniffled. "Are we going to see her again?"

Katniss nodded. "You bet, Prim. It won't be any time soon, but we'll see her _and_ grandpa again."

"How are my favorite girls doing?"

Katniss and Prim looked up to see Finnick walking towards them, smiling sadly. Prim jumped up from Katniss's lap and ran into his waiting arms.

"It's not fair!" Prim stated. "It's not fair that she left."

Finnick nodded. "I know, Sprout. I know. But now she and grandpa get to be together forever and ever."

"That's what K…*hic*…atniss said," Prim whispered.

"And Katniss is a very smart lady," Finnick commented. He then smiled and looked towards his other cousin. "She'd have to be to get into a school like Panem U!"

Katniss blushed. "They had fewer applicants this year. I wouldn't have gotten in otherwise."

Finnick clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Don't sell yourself short, Katniss. You're smart. Deal with it."

Katniss shoved him in the shoulder, and he did the same to her before stooping down to pick Prim up and tickle her stomach, causing her to giggle. The three laughed together.

Someone cleared their throat behind them, causing the three to turn towards the noise. It was a man, not much younger than Mags was, dressed in a black suit with a brown tie. He clutched a briefcase in one hand.

"Sorry to bother you," he stammered, "but am I correct in assuming you three are Mag's grandchildren."

Finnick nodded, adjusting prim in his arms so that she was clinging to his back. He shook the man's hand. "That's right. I'm Finnick O'dair."

The man smiled. "Of course – Mags would never shut up about how _the_ Finnick O'dair was her grandson."

"How did you know grandma Mags?" Katniss asked, stepping forward.

The man cleared his throat. "Of course, how rude of me. I'm Haymitch Abernathy – your grandparents' attorney. I was also a close friend of Eric's. We worked together at Panem Co." Finnick nodded for him to continue. "Anyway, I know that this is a very fragile time, but Mags was very keen that her and her husband's will be read as close to her…um…death…as possible. Would you possibly be able to stop by my office for an hour or so tomorrow?"

Finnick and Katniss glanced at each other. Katniss nodded. "Could we meet after five? I've already missed a lot of work this week, what with everything that's been going on, and I'd hate to call in sick _again_."

Haymitch smiled kindly at her. "Absolutely. How about we meet at 5:30? The office closes at 7, so that should give us plenty of time to go over everything – there's not too much."

Both of the elder cousins agreed, shook the man's hand, and gathered their things to leave. Finnick swung Prim back and forth by her arms as they walked away from the grave. Katniss blew a kiss to the fresh dirt that now covered the coffin and vowed to come back later in the week to pay her respects without Prim. Katniss loved her sister, but keeping up a brave face for the 6-year-old was somewhat draining.

The trio arrived at Katniss' car and Prim jumped into her car seat, buckling herself in with an expert touch. Katniss closed the door and turned to move to her own.

"How you doing? Hanging in there?" Finnick asked her sympathetically.

Katniss nodded. "I'm alright. At this point, I really just want to go home and lay down for a bit. This was a bit…you know."

Finnick smiled sadly. "Yeah, I know. You go home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow for the meeting."

"Sounds good." Katniss hugged Finnick and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, Katniss climbed into the car and drove away.

 **A/N: Okay, I'm not** _ **100%**_ **sure where this story is going, but I have high hopes for it. I know this was a fairly abrupt chapter, but I am trying to lay the groundwork for a bigger picture as quickly as possible here. I promise, we will go more in depth into each character later on in the story. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi all! Thank you to those who followed/reviewed this story! Just so you know, in my head, Finnick is about 20, Katniss is 18, and Prim is 6. Enjoy this next chapter!**

Katniss pulled into the Panem Co. parking lot, still in her Petsmart uniform. Checking her appearance in the mirror, she smoothed her hair into a neat ponytail before seeing Finnick waving at her from the front door of the building. She unbuckled and stepped out of the car.

"Hey, Kit Kat!" Finnick called, smiling at his cousin.

Katniss trotted up to him. "Hi Finnick."

He opened the door for her. "Where's Prim?"

"She's at the Hawthorne's for dinner. Hazelle picked her up with Posy from school today."

"That was nice of her," Finnick mused. Katniss nodded.

They were quiet as they got in the elevator, pressed the button for the tenth floor, and rode up to their destination. Finnick stopped her as they stepped up to Haymitch's office door.

"If it becomes too much for you at any point, we can stop. I'll tell the guy that we just need to finish up tomorrow."

Katniss smiled gratefully and placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder, nodding silently. They knocked on the door.

"Come in!" yelled a man's voice.

Finnick opened the door and they walked inside. Haymitch smiled up at them from his desk.

"Thanks for coming, you two," he said. "I was worried you weren't going to show."

"Anything for grandma Mags," Katniss mumbled.

Haymitch grimaced. "Yes…Mags...I'm so sorry we had to do this so close to the funeral. I usually don't do this sort of thing, but she insisted. And I'm sure you know that it's nearly impossible to turn your grandmother down."

The cousins nodded.

"Anyway," Haymitch coughed, "Have a seat. There's not a lot to go over here, but I'm sure we're all anxious to get through it." He produced a manilla folder from his desk drawer and emptied its contents onto the desk. There was three envelopes, several papers, and a locket that fell onto the mahogany tabletop with a clanking thud.

"There's one of these for both of you," he handed them each an envelope, "as well as one for the little girl. I'll let you read those on your own time. As for the rest of this, I'll just break it down. Basically, your grandparents decided, upon the passing of your parents, to divide their assets up among the three of you. Because Primrose is so young, she won't have access to any of this until she's 18. Your grandmother felt that it was important that she stay with family, so she has given you both joint custody of the girl."

Katniss exhaled in relief.

Haymitch cleared his throat. "The apartment is still in Mag's name, and she'd like Katniss to keep it. As for the money…well…you both know that your grandparents lived very humble lives. However, they both worked from the moment they got out of school until the day they died, and they managed to save up quite a bit. About two million dollars, total."

"Two million!?" Finnick exclaimed. Haymitch nodded.

"Yes, two million. That's broken up into about $600,000 each, with an extra $100,000 set aside each for Katniss and Prim's college education. Mags assumed, Finnick, that given your career and current income, you would either not attend college or be able to afford it without any extra assistance."

Katniss and Finnick nodded, still in shock.

"You two have been given permission to keep, donate, sell, or throw out any physical assets you find in the apartment, including any money. Other than that, everything else is in the letters. And…that's it. Do you have any questions?"

Katniss and Finnick shook their heads. Finnick stood first.

"Thank you, Mr. Abernathy, sir." He held out his hand for the elder man to shake.

"Your grandparents were some of my favorite people," Haymitch sighed. "Their death is a loss to humanity."

A tear unconsciously leaked from Katniss's eye. "Thank you, Haymitch." She shook the man's hand and let Finnick lead her out of the office.

"I'm gonna use the restroom real quick before we leave," Finnick told her as he veered toward a door marked with a stick-figure man on it.

"Okay," Katniss mumbled in his direction. She wandered past the restrooms and absent-mindedly looked in the open doorways of the various offices.

They were mostly plain, very industrial. A desk, some chairs, and a lot of filing cabinets. Nothing exciting.

When she reached the end of the hall, she began to wander back towards the restrooms, admiring the pattern of the carpeted floor. Suddenly, she ran into someone. Papers scattered onto the floor, a few assorted pens clattering down with them.

"I'm so sorry!" a voice commented. "I didn't realize anyone else was even here."

Katniss looked up and saw blue. Brilliant, earth-shattering, storm calming blue.

It was a man. Tall, pale, blonde, muscular. And blue eyes. _Really_ blue eyes.

Katniss shook her head. "No, _I'm_ sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm sorry. Sorry."

The man smirked kindly. "Not to worry. I should have been paying more attention."

Katniss bent down to pick up the papers, scooting them into a haphazard pile before pulling them up to hand back to the man.

"Thank you," he smiled, not taking his eyes off of her.

Katniss blushed under his gaze. "I'm Katniss. I was just meeting with Haymitch…my grandma died."

"I'm sorry," the man stated sympathetically. "I'm –"

"Katniss!" Finnick called, emerging into the hall, effectively cutting the man off.

"I…I gotta go," Katniss stammered, running towards her cousin. She grabbed Finnick's hand and dragged him into the waiting elevator.

Finnick glanced into the hallway as the doors closed. "Who was that?"

"I don't know." Katniss blushed.

Finnick looked at her quizzically, but let the matter drop. "Okay…are you gonna read your letter now or later?"

"Later," Katniss sighed. "I'll hold onto Prim's though – give it to her later. You know, after she's learned to read."

"Makes sense."

The elevator dinged to a stop and the two cousins walked out of the building.

"I've gotta go pick up Prim," Katniss mumbled.

Finnick nodded. "Call me later. We should get lunch."

Katniss smiled sadly. "Will do. Bye, Fin."

"Bye, Kat."

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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi all! Special thanks to all who reviewed!**

Katniss sat down at the kitchen table and sighed, pulling the envelope from her back pocket. It wasn't very thick, there was probably just a single piece of paper contained inside. With a heavy heart, she ran her thumb under the lip of the envelope and pulled out the note. The smell of grandma Mags's perfume had somehow saturated the paper. Katniss inhaled deeply before beginning to read.

 _Dearest Katniss,_

 _Since your reading this, I can only assume that I am no longer with you. Don't cry over me – I lived a long and wonderful life. My only regret is that I will not get to watch my wonderful grandchildren grow up and become the amazing adults that I know you all are destined to be._

 _Take care of Prim – I know that between you and Finnick, she will be in good hands. I can't think of anyone I would trust more to raise my youngest grandbaby. But don't lose track of your own life in taking care of your sister. There's a reason I gave you and Finn_ _joint_ _custody, instead of granting it just to you. Go to school, get a degree, spend time with friends, fall in love. At the end of your life, the only experiences you regret are the ones you forgot to have._

 _I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. All the way to the moon and back._

 _All my love,_

 _Grandma Mags_

 _P.S. If you need any assistance in figuring out your new financial situation, feel free to contact my accountant. There should be a business card in the envelope._

Katniss pulled out the business card. In embossed golden letters, it read:

 **Peeta Mellark Panem Co.**

 **Junior Accountant**

 **Phone: 390-570-3892**

 **Fax: 390-570-8928**

She slid the papers back into the envelope, making a mental note to give Peeta Mellark a call in the next couple of days.

"Katniss!" Prim called from her bedroom. "You forgot to read my story!"

Katniss rose from her seat and went to tuck the little girl in, pushing her memories of her grandmother to the back of her mind.

* * *

Peeta Mellark's receptionist answered the phone when Katniss called and helped her to set up an appointment for that Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock. Katniss took the day off of work and made arrangements to meet Finnick for lunch ahead of time.

Katniss sat outside the Hob Café, waiting for Finnick to arrive. It wasn't long before his motorcycle slid to a halt in front of her, skidding slightly across the concrete. Finnick pulled off his helmet and smiled brightly at his cousin.

"Hey, Kat!"

Katniss smirked at him. "Hey, Finn. Nice entrance." She gestured to his motorcycle.

Finnick got off the bike and began to lead Katniss into the restaurant, placing a hand on her back. "I do what I can," he smirked.

"You know you can't drive Prim on that thing," Katniss scolded.

Finnick slid into a booth. "I'm already looking at sedans."

Katniss exhaled in relief. "Good boy."

"I'm gonna be great at this whole cousin-dad thing."

Katniss laughed. "It sounds weird when you say it like that."

The two chatted easily for the next hour as they ate their sandwiches. Once they were done, Finnick threw some cash onto the table and they walked out of the restaurant.

"So," Finnick mused, "you're going to meet with grandma's accountant?"

Katniss nodded. "He works at Panem Co. I'm gonna head over there now. Where are you off to?"

"I'm headed to the gym. I've been slacking off the last couple of weeks and my trainer's not too happy." Finnick snapped his helmet onto his head, sliding a leg over the motorcycle.

"I'll talk to you later, then," Katniss smiled at him.

Finnick nodded. "Call me tonight – maybe Prim can come stay with me this weekend?"

"Sure, Finn."

* * *

"Can I help you?" A stunning blonde looked up at Katniss from her desk.

Katniss smoothed her hands over her shirt, suddenly self-conscious. "Yeah," she stammered. "I have an appointment with…uh…Peeta Mellark?"

The Blonde turned to her computer. "Name?"

"Katniss Everdeen."

"His office is the 3rd on the left. You can go right in." She pointed down the hall toward a door.

Katniss walked over to the door and knocked cautiously.

"One moment!" a man, probably Peeta Mellark, called out. There was some shuffling on the other side of the door before it swung open, revealing the man on the other side.

"Oh…uhm…hi," Katniss mumbled. Her eyes were transfixed on his blue ones, and memories of the handsome stranger from the other night came rushing back into her mind.

The man smiled. "Aren't you the girl I ran into the other night?" he asked casually.

Katniss nodded. "Sorry about that, again."

"No worries. Please, come in." He stepped aside to let her enter. "Have a seat. I'm Peeta Mellark."

Katniss sat in one of the chairs facing Peeta Mellark's desk and watched him cross from the door to his chair.

Katniss slid her jacket off. "I'm –"

"Katniss, right?" he cut her off.

"Uhm…yeah. Katniss Everdeen."

Peeta nodded. "So, what can I do for you, Katniss Everdeen?"

Katniss found it very difficult to concentrate with his eyes on her. "I…uh…I'm Mags O'dair's granddaughter. And she told me to call you…she left me a bunch of money, and I'm not really used to…she said you could help me." Katniss's gaze moved over his broad shoulders and perfect facial features. "Aren't you a little young to be an accountant?"

"I'm 22 – I just graduated last June. Mags used to work with my father, but he retired recently, so I took over his clients."

Katniss blushed. "Right. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Peeta opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a file. "Here's Mag's file. I'm so sorry about her passing, by the way."

Katniss nodded in thanks.

"So you said she left you some money. How much exactly?"

The two talked numbers for a while. Katniss found herself itching to touch his messy blonde hair, to run her fingers through it. Peeta Mellark was undeniably handsome. And the suit he wore wasn't helping with Katniss's wandering thoughts.

"Well, I think that's all I need for now, Ms. Everdeen. If you'd give me your e-mail, I can send you the notes from this meeting for your own personal record."

Katniss shook her head to clear it from thoughts of the way Peeta Mellark's shirt stretched across his biceps. "Yeah. Do you…uh…do you have a pen?"

Peeta handed her one, and she quickly scribbled her e-mail down on his paper.

"Great," Peeta smiled and pulled the paper back to him. "I'll get those to you this evening. Otherwise, we're done here."

Katniss stood and slipped on her coat. "Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mellark. I—"

He stopped her. "It's Peeta."

"Okay. Thank you, Peeta, then." Her heart thudded loudly when Peeta Mellark smiled at her. "I'll…uh…I'm gonna go. Bye."

Peeta looked like he was going to say something, but Katniss hurried out of his office and down the hall to the elevator before he could say anything, worried that one more word from his mouth would cause her to do or say something stupid. His eyes tugged at something deep inside of her.

And she didn't think he realized the effect he had on her.

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